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January 24th-25th, 2013 Treeleaf Weekly Zazenkai - A FAMILY AFFAIR!

NOTE: A LOCAL WOMAN IN TSUKUBA CALLED TO SAY THAT SHE AND HER HUSBAND WILL COME SIT THIS WEEKEND WITH THEIR CHILDREN, BOTH IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. I SAID THAT I HAVE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT MAKING YOUNG KIDS SIT ZAZEN FOR A LONG SIT (SEE BELOW), BUT THEY ARE MORE THAN WELCOME IF SHE FEELS IT IS HELPFUL. I ASK ALL OUR MEMBERS TO "JUST SIT" WITH THE KIDS THIS WEEK WHEN THEY COME (Frankly, I can say after having sat, that these kids did better than many adults I know! ) .

... and to be visible at the following link during those times and sit-a-long-able any time thereafter ...

LIVE ZAZENKAI NETCAST at GOOGLE+ IS HERE:CLICK ON THE TAB ON LOWER RIGHT FOR 'FULL SCREEN
[B]

FOR THOSE NOT ALREADY MEMBERS OF THE CIRCLE WHO WISH TO JOIN TO SIT LIVE WITH A CAMERA, INSTRUCTIONS ARE POSTED AT THIS LINK. WE ARE NOW LIMITED TO 10 INDIVIDUALS WITH CAMERAS, BUT ANY NUMBER CAN WATCH LIVE 'ONE WAY' AND SIT-A-LONG VIA THE ABOVE SCREEN. IF JOINING WITH CAMERA, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR MICROPHONE IS MUTED:

As you can see, our Zazenkai consists of chanting the 'Heart Sutra' in English (the words are at the link below), some full floor prostrations in sets of three (please follow along with me ... or a simple Gassho can be substituted if you wish), followed by our Dedication, Zazen twice for about 30 minutes each, with 10 minutes of Kinhin in between, and we end the sitting with 'The Verse of Atonement' and 'The Four Vows'.

Please download and print out the Chants we will recite at the following link (PDF):

As to sitting with any noise or distraction that may result sitting with kids, a re-MINDer ...

Noise or anything is not really a "disturbance" without the mind to be "disturbed". If the mind is not "disturbed", then what "disturbance"?

I learned this lesson in part sitting many a morning at Nishijima Roshi's old Zendo ... located right next to a NOISY child's playground and a highway.

As to having kids sit Zazen, I sometimes say the following:

===========================

Every home is different, but in our house Leon sits with me for about 10 minutes now and then ... before either dashing off or falling asleep. He used to sit with me more when smaller, not so interested now at 10. My daughter joins me from time to time,

I do not think that we need to insist that our young children sit Zazen. It is best just to create a loving home in which lessons of Wisdom and Compassion, the Precepts and other teachings of the Buddha are naturally passed down to our children. Let them learn about Zazen from seeing the place and effect that Zazen has in our lives Then, years from now, when they are grown ... maybe they will turn to it too (your child saying years from now, "That Practice had a positive effect on mom and dad, and they were good parents ... maybe I should try that too").

Now, when my daughter plops down in my lap, she is always welcome. If he or she is making noise, I ask them kindly to stop while I am sitting (sometimes that lasts for more than a minute). However, ultimately, the noise is "just what is" and we sit with it, all the Buddha's chanting.

In the meantime, one issue for me is those times I have to give a "time out" to Leon or Sada, and have them sit in the corner. It looks too much like Zazen. In fact, when Leon was younger, he asked my wife if papa was "bad all the time, because he is always sitting in the corner"! I think he now understands the difference!

As usual, will try to make it live if not too tired.
To be honest sometimes I find some "background noise" even helpful.
I always have to fumble with my speakers anyway, as everyone else at home will be sleeping and I don't want to wake anyone up (while on the other hand I must still be able to hear the bell!)...

Welcome to my house each week during zazenkai. My microphone is always turned off, so nobody hears my two young boys running around the house, yelling and causing all kinds of noise. So, two more young children will make no difference to me

And I agree, Jundo. I do not force my kids to sit zazen. However, time-out is similar, as in, go find a quiet spot and sit there. The only difference is, they must sit until I tell them to get up

I sit with a group in the back room of a small cafe twice a week. Sometimes it's very quiet, and sometimes they're hosting an open mic out front. I find the sudden noises, the occasional loud customer or the flushing toilet next door to be very helpful teachers. This Sunday we will sit with whatever noise the cafe happens to deliver as well as with the visiting children who may or may not be sitting with Treeleaf.

Well Google up to it's all trick again! Unable to get it, but see other were ... so I don't know. Google is a good teacher as it is very frustrating! =(

Enjoy your sit everyone

Gassho
Shingen

Shingen, I started trying to find the hangout and Google gave me fits. It kept saying that Google was not available. Five minutes before Zazenkai, I switched from Internet Explorer to Google Chrome and all the sudden I could get in. Now I set Google Chrome as my default browser, so I guess i better resave all my bookmarks.

Well, that was an awesome zazenkai ....and with Elmo and Sitch you cannot go wrong ...... and those kids managed to stay firm in their seats better than me.... and little Sada ... these little teachers

Thanks, everyone. Those kids were amazing. I guess "uh-oh" is a universal.
I too was having difficulty getting to the hangout. Tried several ways, but I guess I'll try Chrome next. Neither Internet Explorer, nor Firefox would show the join-hangout button. FYI
See you next week.
Shinzan

Thanks for the suggestions, but I have tried everything. Chrome, Firefox, Safari on Mac and PC, Chrome on Chromebook and Android, but the reality is, it is what it is, consistently inconsistent. There is no one solution ... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Oh well, moments like these are good practice. =)

Gassho
Shingen

Originally Posted by Juki

Shingen, I started trying to find the hangout and Google gave me fits. It kept saying that Google was not available. Five minutes before Zazenkai, I switched from Internet Explorer to Google Chrome and all the sudden I could get in. Now I set Google Chrome as my default browser, so I guess i better resave all my bookmarks.

Gassho,
Juki

RINDO SHINGEN
倫道 真現

As a trainee priest, please take any commentary by me on matters of the Dharma with a pinch of salt.

Great Zazenkai. Thank you everyone for sitting. Having the guests was wonderful. I look forward to being able to start sitting live again next time. My job has had me doing a few weeks of overnights. Was suppose to be only two weeks, but just one more week to go. Have a great weekend everyone!